Pulsar
PSR J1658+3630
Radio pulsar · binary system
A neutron star spinning once every 0.033 seconds; the beams from its magnetic poles sweep across Earth on every turn. It shares a 3.016 days orbit with a CO white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Hercules |
| Period | 33.028 ms (30 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 1.2×10⁻¹⁹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 4.5 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 2.0×10⁹ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.3×10³² erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 3.0 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 223 pc (727.3 ly) |
| Companion | CO white dwarf (estimated), ~1.07 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 3.016 days |
| Eccentricity | 0.000031 |
| Discovery | 2019 · lotaas, ar327, fast_gpps |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 16h 58m 26.5s |
| Declination (J2000) | +36° 30′ 30″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 53° S. North of latitude 53° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in June, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 1299. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 13 million years.